Sunflower

A short World War II drama written and directed by Mateusz Balcerek and starring Martyna Zozula, Sylwia Boron, Helena Mazur and Wieslaw Zanowicz. This film is a special project of the director as it is a true story that is based on his grandmother's experiences and this year marks the 80th anniversary of the events depicted in the film.

The plot concerns a family living in a village in Poland during the Second World War. The story concentrates primarily on Danusia (Zozula), a little girl who lives with her older sister Helena (Mazur), their mother (Boron) and their grandfather (Zanowicz). The whereabouts of the children's father are unknown, nevertheless, the family appears to be living a fairly peaceful and happy life. However, their bliss is savagely interrupted when Nazis reach their household and bring death.

The impressive creativity of the filmmakers is quite evident. Filming took place in Radom, Poland and commendations go to production designer Rafal Osinsk who has worked on the latest Hunger Games and Bridge of Spies and creates an environment that effectively brings to story back to the nineteen forties and Kamila Buturyn's excellent work on the costumes adds significantly to the look of that decade. The film is beautifully directed by Balcerek, with remarkable shots that look even better thanks to the cinematography by Lukasz Dziedzic, whose previous projects include Steven Spielberg's West Side Story. The soft, sombre and wistful music is the terrific work of Roberto Mengoli, the London Symphonic Orchestra and the Kids Choir. Acknowledgements also go to the creativity during the closing credits.

It should be mentioned this film is quite heavy regarding drama and that there are certain scenes that some viewers might find rather distressing.

The acting is superb by the entirety of the protagonists. Zozula is a simple child who loves sunflowers and enjoys drawing pictures of them. As the threat of war invades her life, viewers cannot help put feel very sorry for the terrible realities she has to face at such a young age. Although, his appearance is brief, Zanowicz is rather likeable and sweet as Danusia's grandad, an elderly man who wants to spend time with his beloved granddaughter. Boron's character is a strong, loving and protective mother who refuses to be overpowered by the events that are occurring to her family and tries to prevent Danusia from seeing the devastating truth. On the other hand, Helena does not see things from her mother's perspective and seems to believe that they must accept that bad things are coming their way and they must act.

The themes that are explored are quite deep. The nagative things that are examined involve the effects warfare has on simple people, such as loss, survival nd generally people's lives being torn apart. The positive subjects include the significance of unity and support, particularly involving households, with family members being there for each other during challenging times. Hope is another significant theme and it seems to be represented by the presence of sunflowers throughout the film, the type of flower that Danusia cherishes.

This short is partially a WWII story and partially a family drama. It is quite dramatic when it reveals the devastating consequences war has for people. In the end, this powerful and emotional story seems to suggest that hope can exist even in the darkest of times.